Units for the molding of food products, particularly for the cooking of hams, have already been proposed.
A unit of the above kind typically comprises an assembly of molds configured like channels arranged horizontally, side-by-side and parallel to each other, is their bottoms being directed downwards and their openings upwards. The assembly of the molds is fixed to support means which provide for the piling of units on one another.
Applicants' FR-A-2 672 270, relates to a unit of the above kind.
In some embodiments, each channel is attached to a plate that extends under its bottom, forming a double-bottom. The double-bottom plates serve as lid elements adapted to engage in the channel openings of an underlying unit in a pile.
The use of lids is particularly beneficial for cooking hams because the meat is then confined in a well-defined volume in which it is maintained under pressure which eliminates voids and determines its final shape.
Two main techniques have been used until now for the heat treatment of food products, in this instance for the cooking of hams.
The first uses chambers, cells or tunnels for cooking. These are enclosures with dimensions suited to receiving at least one "trolley", this term designating, in the art concerned, an assembly of a plurality of piled molding units movable on a rolling path. The enclosure is generally dimensioned to contain two to twelve trolleys.
Steam is generally diffused into the enclosure to cook the hams.
Plants of the above kind, which require good thermal insulation of the enclosure and use fans for circulating the steam used for cooking, are costly to acquire and to maintain.
There also arises a problem associated with contact between the heat-conveying fluid--steam in this instance--and the products to be treated, namely, a risk of microbial contamination of the products.
The second technique uses cooking tanks or pots of generally parallelepiped shape provided with a lid. The cooking is done in water heated either by means of an auxiliary device such as a boiler or within the tank itself, by heat exchange or by injecting steam.
Tanks of the above kind are not convenient to use because it is necessary to load the cooking units into them from above, for example using a winch or a traveling overhead crane.
Moreover, the contamination problem is also encountered with this method.